'There is a lot more to do': No easy solutions to Kelowna street disorder at business forum

'There is a lot more to do'

After two hours of hearing from the mayor, RCMP superintendent, a provincial cabinet minister, Crown prosecutors and Interior Health, some of more than 200 business people who attended a forum on street disorder and crime in Kelowna left with more questions than answers.

The city organized the event at Kelowna Community Theatre on Tuesday night after escalating complaints about break-ins, smashed windows and fires in the downtown and other commercial areas.

“I don’t think the format was the greatest to involve the people that this is affecting,” said Realtor Glenn Szabo after the forum wrapped up.

He has a couple of business clients who are considering a move downtown.

“Right now, the way it is, they don’t want to,” said Szabo.

Another business owner, however, is happy to see progress made downtown in recent weeks.

“I’m very impressed with the way the streets are over the past two weeks. It’s a complete flip,” said David Wilfong of Junk N Go. “So what exactly were the changes to make that happen?”

Mayor Tom Dyas opened the evening, outlining some of the new initiatives aimed at curbing the ongoing problems. Those initiatives include more patrols by the RCMP and bylaw officers, faster cleanup and moving people loitering outside businesses, and co-ordination of the downtown and Rutland on-call teams.

The two newest measures the mayor announced are a business CCTV registry and a business security rebate program.

“This program provides financial support to businesses who have experienced property crime and are looking to enhance their property security. And I want to be honest with you as well. We know there is a lot more to do,” Dyas told the crowd.

At one point, frustration boiled over at the way the meeting was conducted and the limited time for people in the audience to ask questions. Not everyone was unhappy with what they heard, though.

“I thought some of the presentations tonight were really well put together and well informed, especially the one put on by the mayor, Tom Dyas,” said Rick Reeves. “It was very informative, and not only did he recognize the problems, he gave lots of solutions.”

Rutland shop owner Neal Hagreen also praised the city’s initiatives, while reserving judgment.

“It was filled with as much political double speak as I would expect from such an event, but unfortunately, the solution is a lot more complicated, as they like to say in there,” he said.

Hagreen believes one of the answers would be to put more money into finding housing for people living on the streets, rather than just spending it on enforcement.

At times, there was applause, in particular for the commander of the Kelowna RCMP when he spoke about being handcuffed to deal with some of the city’s repeat offenders.

“I’ll use the analogy, it’s like a flood and I’ve got a broken Solo cup, and I’m trying to continue to clean this out. And at some point, somebody has to turn the tap off and give us more resources to be able to do that,” said Supt. Chris Goebel.

The one thing everyone seemed to agree on was that Kelowna needs more Crown prosecutors. Adam Dalrymple, the president of the BC Crown Prosecutors Association, urged the public to support his union and pressure the province to hire more prosecutors.

BC’s Minister of State for Community Safety and Integrated Services Terry Yung was on the panel, but he did not say when Kelowna can expect to see that happen.